If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I don't say this lightly, or often. I tend to be worried about the next game whatever that is. And I will also say that things can go bad in a hurry for a number of reasons.

But what I am leading up to is this - Pacers team is damn good. I've been closely followng the Pacers and the NBA for almost 35 years and this is a really good team. Enjoy every minute of it, because things can change in a hurry, but we have something special.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

I think the Pistons could be a second round team in a year or two. Especially if they get rid of Stuckey (Spurs?) and KCP develops. I think they could be a better version of the Hawks with Johnson. But they are missing something and not just shooting. They are missing that player that can take over. Jamal Crawford would be a good fit here if the Clips are dumping him to prevent LT.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

I don't say this lightly, or often. I tend to be worried about the next game whatever that is. And I will also say that things can go bad in a hurry for a number of reasons.

But what I am leading up to is this - Pacers team is damn good. I've been closely followng the Pacers and the NBA for almost 35 years and this is a really good team. Enjoy every minute of it, because things can change in a hurry, but we have something special.

What strikes me is that they can basically take a quarter off (arguably more in some of these games) and win. And not only win, but when they put together a craptastic quarter-plus, you're really not even that concerned, because you know they can impose their will at both ends when pressed into it.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

Great win...and I love what the Starters did....but I think that the Starters....especially West, Lance PG24 played too many minutes. West ( as vnzla81 would point out ) seemed to be "up and down" all game. I'd like to see Scola get more burn when West's game seems to be off.

I'd like to see more of OJ and Solo...heck even Copeland getting some minutes.

But I really want to get the 2nd unit more minutes to build some chemistry, familiarity and confidence in their game. We can't run West 33mpg, PG24 40 mpg and Lance 38 mpg.....they will get burnt out by the end of the season.

But... Vogel does have to do what he believes is necessary to win the game. Do you play Scola because he is giving you offensive production that West isn't, or do you play/keep playing West because he can defensively help stop the Piston's run?

These are things that Vogel will continue to figure out as the season continues. Hopefully, Scola will begin to work better as a defender with a benefit from our system. And, West will provide better offensive firepower when we need it. Then, perhaps Scola and West can truly be used interchangeably.

So far though, I'll just give the benefit of the doubt to Vogel and say he is 1-0 in determining which player to play when in a game that ended up being closer than it should have been.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

What strikes me is that they can basically take a quarter off (arguably more in some of these games) and win. And not only win, but when they put together a craptastic quarter-plus, you're really not even that concerned, because you know they can impose their will at both ends when pressed into it.

The ability to lock down defensively is special and Paul George is a special player that in my lifetime I have not seen in a Pacers uniform

The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to Unclebuck For This Useful Post:

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

Paul George is starting to get that superstar swagger that guys like Lebron and Durant have. The guy has complete confidence in his abilities right now, and there is nothing he can't do. Every time he shoots a j, every time he takes it to the rack, every time he passes to a teammate.....you can just see the swag budding off of him. His jump shot is absolutely beautiful right now. He will literally be unstoppable if he can keep shooting like that. This guy must have worked his a** off this summer. He is picking up right where he left off in the Miami series. At this point, it's becoming pretty obvious that this guy has the potential to easily average in the mid-20's PPG. His shooting was his biggest weakness last year, but right now he has a 52.9 FG%, 45.2 three %, and 66.7 TS% (see, I do give that stat validity). This dude really has no weakness and at this point can easily be considered the most talented Pacer in their NBA history. His respect amongst the national media grow everyday. Even that clown Skip Bayless, who often tried to write us off last year, tweeted last night that Paul was making an early case for MVP.

It would certainly be nice if Roy's offense could look like it did against New York and Miami, but that's just the icing on the cake as far as he concerned. As long as Roy plays excellent interior defense, rebounds, and blocks shots while altering many others, then he is worth every single penny. With the Paul-Roy duo and excellent supporting cast, we really are a candidate to win around 60 games. This team just has that swagger that they're going to kick your a** every single night. I love it.

That CJ Watson signing is looking great. Very solid player. Lance seemed a bit off early on, but got it together and hit a couple of big shots. 6 rebounds and 7 assists for Born Ready. He continues to have increasing ball handling duties and is doing very well at it.

I just hope to God that we beat the Bulls tonight. Would love to embarrass them on national TV with their obnoxious fans in the house.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

If they had just shot 75% from the line, this game would've never been close. They still turned the ball over too much but you have to love the way Paul George and Roy Hibbert are playing. Both of them have been dominating on defense, especially in the second half of these games. The adjustments Vogel and/or Burke are making at half-time have been nearly perfect.

Larry is not coming back, he didn't have a meeting with Orlando for not reason, yeah he is coming back to the NBA but not to the Pacers, the notion that he is a taking a year off and then come back is absurd.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

Roy was credited with 7 blocks last night. That's craziness... he's averaging over 5 blocks a game through the first four games. How long can he keep this up?

EDIT: And oh by the way... Paul George is the 2nd-leading scorer in the NBA.

I want to know what the record is for blocks. I think Hibbert is going to break it this year. Hibbert isn't making a bunch of super athletic type of blocks that you don't consistently get, his blocks are coming on normal plays. So unless teams just stop posting up Roy or stop driving to the basket I don't think we are going to see much if any decline.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

I have been watching the NBA for a long time (not as long as UB) but long enough to be amazed this has not been brought up. In the NBA some nights its not about talent its about desire. One of the reasons Michael Jordan was so good is that he wanted it and wanted it bad. Last night the Pistons wanted it bad, they really wanted this game and the Pacers still won. I don't think I can make the point well enough but I can not recall a game in the regular season where the team who wanted it as bad as the Pistons did last night did not win.

The Pacers were able to just turn it on whenever they needed to in order to finish them off, that's amazing and the kind of think you saw from MJ's bulls, the Bird Celtics and the Magic led Lakers.

Create an ignore list. I know it may seem unneighborly. But you're here to talk about the Pacers, not argue with someone who's just looking for an argument. Most of the regular users on here make use (at least occasionally) of the "Ignore" feature. Just go to "Settings" -> "Edit Ignore List" and add the names.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

I have been watching the NBA for a long time (not as long as UB) but long enough to be amazed this has not been brought up. In the NBA some nights its not about talent its about desire. One of the reasons Michael Jordan was so good is that he wanted it and wanted it bad. Last night the Pistons wanted it bad, they really wanted this game and the Pacers still won. I don't think I can make the point well enough but I can not recall a game in the regular season where the team who wanted it as bad as the Pistons did last night did not win.

The Pacers were able to just turn it on whenever they needed to in order to finish them off, that's amazing and the kind of think you saw from MJ's bulls, the Bird Celtics and the Magic led Lakers.

I watched the Pistons feed last night (their announcers are very good, BTW) and they specifically mentioned in the fourth quarter when the Pacers went up by 19, that the Pacers have another gear that they are able to shift into when the fourth quarter rolls around. They didn't specifically say it but that "gear" is the Pacers lock down man-to-man defense or as the MJ lead Bulls team used to call it, "Unleashing the dobermans".

Another thing that the Pistons commentators kept pointing out is that the Pistons players were doing a ton of talking to the Pacers players and that it was getting "chippy" during that 3rd quarter. The Pacers shut them up with their play and mental toughness.

You could hear Vogel yelling, "no foul" and "stay down", during the fourth-quarter. It's been a joy watching this team play and seeing them respond to the coaching staff.

Larry is not coming back, he didn't have a meeting with Orlando for not reason, yeah he is coming back to the NBA but not to the Pacers, the notion that he is a taking a year off and then come back is absurd.

Create an ignore list. I know it may seem unneighborly. But you're here to talk about the Pacers, not argue with someone who's just looking for an argument. Most of the regular users on here make use (at least occasionally) of the "Ignore" feature. Just go to "Settings" -> "Edit Ignore List" and add the names.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

I watched the Pistons feed last night (their announcers are very good, BTW) and they specifically mentioned in the fourth quarter when the Pacers went up by 19, that the Pacers have another gear that they are able to shift into when the fourth quarter rolls around. They didn't specifically say it but that "gear" is the Pacers lock down man-to-man defense or as the MJ lead Bulls team used to call it, "Unleashing the dobermans".

Another thing that the Pistons commentators kept pointing out is that the Pistons players were doing a ton of talking to the Pacers players and that it was getting "chippy" during that 3rd quarter. The Pacers shut them up with their play and mental toughness.

How good are the Pacers, who at 4-0 now are off to their best start in a decade?
“Very good,” said Billups, who certainly would know. “I really believe they’re one of the elite teams in the NBA. They’ve got a lot of good talent, good size. They’ve got some shooters, some stars like Paul (George.) They play defense. They’re a good team. A very good team.”

That’s just knowing each other, fighting some wars together,” Billups said of the Pacers’ resilience. “They’ve been through some tough losses and some tough series and lost and realized how big all these games are. That’s all a product of that. And you can’t get that without going through it.”

The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Unclebuck For This Useful Post:

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

I don't like Vogel's gameplan of having the second unit run. I don't see a good open court player out there to do it. Their best player is clearly Scola, and I don't think they're involving him enough, which is extremely hard to do when you're trying to run so much.

If the bench can play okay defense, and they can score, the Pacers will be a really scary team.

What if someone from a school of business or management school were to ask, How did you do this? How did you get the Pacers turned around? Is there a general approach you've taken that can be summarized?

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Since86 For This Useful Post:

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

People questioning Solo's minutes, Frank has always played four wings in the first half and three in the second half. Two years ago it was Lance, until the Barbosa trade. Last year it was OJ. Until Danny comes back, Solo is our fourth wing. When Danny comes back, expect OJ to only get about 7-8 minutes in the first half.

Re: Pacers/Pistons Postgame Thread 11/5/13

I don't like Vogel's gameplan of having the second unit run. I don't see a good open court player out there to do it. Their best player is clearly Scola, and I don't think they're involving him enough, which is extremely hard to do when you're trying to run so much.

If the bench can play okay defense, and they can score, the Pacers will be a really scary team.

He needs to do what he did last year and have 2 starters out there at all times.